It's Called SURVIVAL, Neil... He Started Off w/the More Fan-Friendly Roy JonesESQUE Approach & was Getting HURT & DROPPED by Journeyman...Ward's Doing what he HAS to Do...@ the Same Time, Fans AREN'T Lining Up in Droves to See him, Either... REED:mj:
Ward insists on fighting in oakland. He has a second rate promoter. No power. No real compelling fights to make in his own division. About the only thing going for him is HBO's worship, and they're about to tell him he has to face Kovalev.
ward whipped kessler and then kessler went on to beat froch right after that. kessler was a better fighter than froch and ward beat him more decisively than anyone else did. froch only managed to beat a very declined version of kessler.
Froch Beat BETTER Guys than Kessler Beat... Kessler Won a CLOSE Fight w/Froch, but REED Isn't Sure Kessler was "Better"...REED Thinks History Will Treat Froch More FAVORABLY & Deservedly So... REED:mj:
Mikkel Kessler 46-3, 35 KO's Froch (2x) Green Ward Calzaghe Andrade Beyer Lucas Mundine Carl Froch 32-2, 23 KO's Groves (soon to Be 2x) Kessler (2x) Mack Bute Ward Johnson Abraham Dirrell Taylor Pascal Reid Neither Man was Appreciably Better than the Other, When they Met Head to Head AND Froch Fought BETTER Guys Overall...If Not for Calzaghe (who Froch WANTED to Fight), Froch's Resume Would Absolutely DEFECATE Upon Kessler's... REED:mj:
THIS... @ No Point has REED Said Froch is "Better" than Kessler Either...If Anything, it's a Matter of PREFERENCE... REED:mj:
I think that froch is clearly a better fighter than Kessler. His resume is way better, and in theyr match up, he fared better imo (first fight could have gone either way, while the second was a clear Froch win)
Kessler was already on the slide in 2010 when he beat a prime Froch. That's not revisionist history either. Many of us were saying back then prior to the fight that Kessler had slipped. EVERYTHING he had left in the tank, he gave in that first Froch fight. Kessler's prime was circa 06-07. That version of him would have kicked Froch's ass.
X is right here though. Froch has the better resume, prime vs prime Kessler is better but he peaked earlier
What do you base Kessler peaking early on though? Looking good against Eric Lucas? This is a bug bear actually:- a guy with a bit of hype loses and perceptions of him change so much that folk project decline onto subsequent performances. Kessler dominated his three fights after Calzaghe. The dude was 27 when he fought Calzaghe, never took a beating and lived clean. I can't see anything to base this on.
Kessler was noticeably quicker/sharper about 3 years prior to the Froch fight. Especially quicker on his feet. Stop overrating Froch. He has some good wins, and was/is a good fighter, but let's not forget that he got a gift over Dirrell, and was 1 round away from losing to crappy Taylor. I don't think he was better than Kessler at all.
He didn't appear noticeably quicker to me, so how noticeable could it be? Who's overrating Froch? Froch/Kessler is a wash to me as far as "better fighter"... I could see an argument for either being rated SLIGHTLY above the other, but that's about it If you think that consistutes "overrating Froch" then it is because you are overrating Kessler
I think Kessler was better, but no, I never said the gap was huge. Both were/are very good fighters who are a cut below elite.
Kessler's always been a bit Overrated at Fightbeat. Like Reed said, there's No Appreciable difference btwn him and Froch, in terms of who's 'Better'. REED
I thought Kessler was a superb fighter at his best. I'm agreeing with a lot of what X is saying. Froch supporters will always have his resume to fall back on. Any holes in his resume were not his fault. Hard to say that about any other similarly situated fighter.